This invention relates to a new and improved serving tray particularly advantageous for use in hospitals and other institutions which must prepare and serve meals on a volume basis and in widely scattered locations within their premises.
A characteristic and important feature of those trays which embody the present invention is their ability to be so used as to substantially maintain the temperature of the food which they carry at or near its serving temperature for close to one hour or more. The invention trays have an ability to quickly absorb heat to condition them for their function. Yet they are distinguished by the characteristic of much more slowly releasing heat.
There have been multitudes of prior art devices designed for use as serving trays the intent of the design of which was in the direction of the achievements of the present invention. However, as far as those substantively involved in the preparation of the present disclosure are aware, no one of these prior art devices has had the distinctive composition, capability or function of embodiments of the present invention.
While the invention will be herein described with reference to a specific embodiment thereof in a food serving tray particularly aimed for high volume use in hospitals, it should be obvious that neither the form of its embodiment nor its application is so limited. Such is certainly not intended.
The problems solved by embodiments of the present invention are particularly in evidence in large hospitals. As such institutions grow, there are ever increasing difficulties in providing the inhabitants who are patients with reasonably hot foods. This stems from the fact that in the first place food must be transported varying distances from a central and a number of satellite serving kitchens. There is often a significant time lapse between the time a tray is filled and it reaches a patient. Further delay may be occasioned by the fact that at the time of delivery a patient may not be immediately ready or available to eat the food. In the latter case, this may necessitate reheating the food when the patient is ready to eat, if such facilities are available. If reheating is not possible then the result is not only unappetizing food being served but food which is unpalatable. The whole scene tends to inherently produce patient complaints and poor nutrition in more cases than one likes to think of. Inherent in the procedure is a waste of energy and manpower and a psychological downgrading of the morale and efficiency of the hospital staff, as well as the morale and well being of patients and the effectiveness of their treatment. All these problems may be alleviated to a visible extent in use of embodiments of the present invention in the form of individual serving trays.